Teddy Bear Toss

The Teddy bear toss is one of Genève-Servette Hockey Club’s loveliest gestures – if not the loveliest according to the majority of supporters. The concept is simple and generous: for selected matches, when the Eagles score their first goal, spectators are invited to throw their teddy bears onto the rink.

The Teddy bear toss is a concept imported from North America. Jan Cadieux – then at GSHC – suggested it after he had witnessed it when he played with Rimouski Océanic in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. On 22 January 2006, Genève-Servette Hockey Club organised its first ever Teddy bear toss – the first of its kind in Switzerland. That evening, the Geneva public showed its support by throwing some 3,000 teddy bears onto the ice.

The teddy bears are then sorted and cleaned and the team’s players give them out to children and teenagers they visit at the Children’s Hospital. Every season, an average of 7,000 teddy bears are collected and the club’s players count on their supporters to cover the rink with their teddy bears year after year.

Excess teddy bears are distributed to local and international organisations to bring comfort to as many children as possible.